Pregnant? Your Waistline Isn’t the Only Change In Store For You!

Pregnancy is a time of delight, shock, and challenges. You’re delighted to feel your baby move. You’re shocked to find that those warnings issued by other moms are true — you do develop frequent nausea, food aversions, and heartburn. And you experience many unexpected challenges, like rapid weight gain and trying to stay awake at your job.

Sometimes, it seems that the only way to make it through this whirlwind of changes is to develop a keen sense of humor.

Keeping that in mind, here are nine reasons to celebrate the joys of being pregnant.

Clothes, clothes, and more clothes

One of the joys is that you get to buy a whole new wardrobe—not because you’re special, but because everything that used to delight you doesn’t work for you anymore.

You’ve suddenly acquired a new superpower—the ability to rapidly make perfect-fitting clothes obsolete

Since you’re going to expand along with your wardrobe, it makes you wonder how much you want to spend on maternity clothes. One elegant solution is to get maternity clothes at low cost and spend your money on getting your baby nice things.

You’re thrilled when you get kicked.

Let’s face it, most of us don’t like getting kicked. Yet when the little tyke practices his or her soccer skills inside, we’re all smiles. That movement is the most incredible joy. It’s something you can’t explain to anyone. When they thump on your bladder, you feel like you are a basketball court; it’s not too much fun. Then there are those moments when that movement of an arm or leg across your belly gives you a feeling of pure joy.

Adios skinny ankles.

Ever get complimented for your delicate wrists and ankles? “You’re so petite!” Well, it’s time to put that sense of pride behind you. It’s unlikely that your swollen ankles will spark an amorous twinkle in your partner’s eyes. And by the way, the same thing happens to your perfectly sculpted nose. Yes, it spreads, too.

Those darn spots.

It’s amazing. You go to bed with clear skin, including alluring arms and legs without a single blemish, and in the morning you witness reddish-spots. Other anomalies occur, too. For instance, your vision changes during pregnancy.

Please, don’t touch the art work!

When you go into a museum and start caressing the gorgeous statues, admiring how the artist shaped the model, what happens? The bored security guard, who a moment ago looked like he was made of wax, comes to life and scolds you about touching the art work. He even points to the big sign that clearly says that you should not fondle, stroke, or in any way try to appreciate the art in a tactile way.

In real life, you are the fine piece of art that everyone wants to touch and appreciate. Perfect strangers come up to you to give you a belly rub. Unfortunately, you have neither security guards nor warning signs to fend them off.

It’s a hormonal rollercoaster ride

Your hormones do strange things. You can get the same sensation on a wild roller coaster ride. Sometimes you want to puke. Sometimes you want to throw up your arms and scream.

People start acting strange all around you.

You’re not the only one off kilter. Everyone else behaves in a strange way. Family members revered for their parsimonious ways, suddenly buy extravagant things for your baby. Strangers take you under their wing when you go out in public, advising you on everything from breastfeeding to the fine art of child-raising. Normally civil diners at restaurants rudely stare at you in amazement as you polish off a few steaks and then loudly call the server for more food.

You start acting strange around other people.

Unintentionally, you start to do strange things that make good stories years later.

“I was in a hurry one day, and weeks away from delivery… I left the house to take my son to school and run a few errands. It wasn’t until the cashier at the market said, did you know you have a towel on your head that I realized I hadn’t done my hair after a shower. I had gone to 2 other places like that before someone said something! I got in the car and cried.”

You lose track of your sense of identity.

Most of us tend to have a fairly good idea about ourselves based on predictable patterns. Unfortunately, when you’re pregnant, all bets are off. You don’t know how you’re going to behave from one day to the next.

Sometimes you find it hard to sleep, and you’re sure that you’re an insomniac. Other times, you find it hard to stay awake and usually want to nap at the most inconvenient times.

Some days you can’t concentrate and if you’re at work, you’re constantly coming up with excuses. Yet, paradoxically, you can now worry with intense focus on the most trivial things.

Then there are those times when you feel so happy that you could dance all night. This is counterbalanced by those times when you just want to sit down and cry.

You suddenly lose all your sense of fine dining and proper nutrition as you start to crave very unusual combinations of food. Such as pickles and ice cream, a bag of oranges in one go, and sardines and cucumbers.

Enjoy it While You Can

It lasts only a short time and years later you will look back at the worst of times as fond memories. Next you will be looking for the best ways to remove belly fat.

The hormones are raging and so many changes are happening and it really is a time of getting used to all the changes. I do remember people on the street offering me more help! With opening the doors and pulling up a chair for me. I really enjoyed being pregnant.